12.19.21 Small Group Discussion

Christmas Hope - Hope, Unexpected

Christmas shows that when we least expect it, God shows up. 

  • Share a time when someone has unexpectedly shown up for you. How did that make you feel?

Read The Balaam Story in either form:

The full story:  Numbers 22-24

The condensed story: Numbers 22:1-6, 23:1-8, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, 24:1-5, 10-11, 15-17

  • Have you encountered this story before? What is your reaction to it?

  • In what ways did God show up to protect the Israelites?  

Read: Numbers 24:17

  • Prophecies in Scripture often have multiple levels. In what ways do you see this verse fulfilled at different times in Scripture?

  • How does this verse point to Jesus?

 Read: Matthew 2:1-2

  • Even though there are echoes of Numbers 24:17 in the worlds of the Magi, Herod and all of Jerusalem were surprised and troubled that a king had been born in their city. God had shown up unexpectedly.

  • When has God shown up unexpectedly for you?

  • How can you adopt a posture of gratitude in your daily life?

Prayer: Pray that God will open your eyes to the ways in which He is unexpectedly at work around you, and thank Him for what he is doing!

12.12.21 - Small Group Discussion

Christmas Hope - The Blessing

We are part of God’s Blessing, we are bearers of the Light. 

  • Were you a cute baby?

  • Do you know your family history?  How far back to you know?

Read: Matthew 1:1-16

  • What is the most shocking thing in this genealogy to you?

  • Do you think it is odd that Matthew starts his gospel this way? Why or why not?

  • Is the fact that the genealogy is “messy” concerning or comforting to you?  Why?

Read: Genesis 11:27-12:5

  • What do we learn about Abraham and Sara?  Are they able to have children?

  • What is your response to God if you are Abraham?  Would you be able to leave everything to go do something new?

  • Would you be able to trust God, who is asking so much of Abraham, knowing you are old and unable to have kids—thus sort of negating the “great nation” promise that God gives to Abraham?

Read: Matthew 5:14-16

  • Do the words of Jesus give you motivation to live the light or does it simply make you feel guilty that you haven’t been a good light?  Why?

  • What are some ways you can live the light to your family?  Friends?  Work?

Prayer: God, empower us to live the light, to be your blessing to the world that you started with Abraham and culminated in Jesus, our Savior.

12.05.21 - Small Group Discussion

Christmas Hope - Your Story

When God is fully present in your life, it frees you to be fully present to others. 

  • What does it mean to be fully present to someone? How can you know when someone is fully present or only partly there?

Read: Genesis 3:8 and Genesis 3:23-24

  • What do you suppose it was like when God walked with Adam and Eve? What did they experience?

  • What does the fact that God was present in the Garden say about his character?

  • We know the impact that being cast out of the Garden had on Adam and Eve, but what do you suppose the impact was on the Father?

Read: Ezekiel 37:27-28 and John 1:14

  • God promised to once again make his dwelling place with His children. The “near” fulfillment of that prophecy took place when Jesus became God in the flesh as a baby boy. Why do we celebrate that event?

  • The “far” fulfillment of that prophecy will take place when Christ returns. What will be the impact of God making His sanctuary among his people forever?

Read: Revelation 21:3

  • What do you think it will be like when Christ returns and God once again dwells among his people?

  • What can you do as we await Christ’s return to be fully present to God and fully present to the people He puts in your path?

Prayer: Pray that God will enable you to develop the discipline and focus to be fully present in every circumstance of your life.

11.28.21 - Small Group Discussion

Christmas Hope - Your Story

Jesus is the Hope of the World!

  • Do you decorate for Christmas early, or are you a strict not-until-after-Thanksgiving person? Defend your decision!

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7

  • What are the evidences that our world desperately needs of hope?

  • How can hopelessness can rob one of his or her identity?

  • Where do you see hope in these seven verses?

Action: Take the rest of your time as a small group and make a plan for your group to develop a plan to provide hope for someone this Christmas.

  • Identify someone who is struggling with hopelessness. This can be someone inside your group, or someone a person in your group knows.

  • What is contributing to that person’s hopelessness?

  • What can your group do to shine the light of hope in that person’s life, so their gloom is dispelled.

  • Make your plan specific, realistic and actionable.

  • Assign roles and deadlines so you’re certain to follow through, then …

Prayer: Pray that God will give you the conviction and energy to carry out your plan, and that it will provide hope in a real and tangible way to someone who has become hopeless.

09.26.21 - Small Group Discussion

Friend or Foe? - Allies sit on the same side of the table.

ICE BREAKER: Who is that one person in your life who is your biggest ally? Why do you think of them that way?

Read: 1 Peter 5:8-9

  • What does resisting the devil look like?

Read: Galatians 5:15

  • What are ways Christians bite and devour each other? Why do you think Christians do that?

Read: Colossians 3:11-15

  • What do you read in this text that would make a significant difference among Christians if they could practice it consistently?

  • Which of the instructions in this text do you need the most improvement in, and what change(s) will you make to move in the right direction?

  • Re-read verse 13 in the New Living Translation. Which is more difficult: making allowances for others’ faults or forgiving others? Why?

  • Frank talked about getting on the same side of the table and together facing whatever causes conflict between you and your fellow believer. Explore that metaphor as a group. What does that look like, practically speaking? How can that be helpful?

Prayer: Ask God to help you clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love so that, in all your interactions with fellow believers and people who are far from God, you reflect Jesus.

09.19.21 Small Group Discussion

Friend or Foe? - People are not the enemy.

ICE BREAKER: Is there someone in your life who has been your nemesis? Tell us about it.

Read: 1 Peter 5:8-9

  • There are a lot of people Peter could have cast in the role of villain in this letter. Flipping back through the first five chapters who are some of them?

  • Why didn’t Peter identify people as the enemy?

  • What makes the devil such a sinister enemy?

  • Peter’s advice for defending against the devil is to “Stay alert! Watch out…” What does that look like in practical terms?

Read: Ephesians 6:10-12

  • Verse twelve gives a colorful description of our enemies. To whom or what is Paul referring?

  • How do we fight against such unconventional enemies?

  • What is the role of allies in battling the enemies we encounter in spiritual warfare?

Read: Ephesians 6:13-20

  • What weapon or weapons in this list you need to master?

Prayer: Ask God to help you identify the real enemy, the devil. Ask God to help you avoid seeing the person or people you identified in the ice breaker above as enemies.

08.29.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 5:13-20

It’s always the right time to pray. 

ICE BREAKER: Are you someone for whom prayer comes naturally, or do you struggle? Either way, why do you think that is the case?

Read: James 5:13.

  • James said to pray when we’re happy and when we’re troubled. Which is easier for you, and why?

  • Share a time when prayer helped alleviate your suffering, or when it enhanced your happiness.

Read: James 5:14-16

  • James says to pray when we’re sick, and to pray when we sin. Why do you think James draws a connection between sickness and sin?

  • James urges us to pray in community, and confess our sin to each other. How has your group lived this out? How have you struggled?

Read: James 5:17-18

  • What’s your favorite answered-prayer story from the Bible? Why?

Read: James 5:19-20

  • How consistently do you pray for people who are far from God? What can you do to become more consistent in doing so?

Memory Verse: James 5:13 

Prayer: Ask God to help your group develop the trust and community necessary to pray deeply for each other.

08.22.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 5:7-12 (8.22.21)

Patience is hope, lived out. 

ICE BREAKER: When was the most impatient you’ve ever been as you waited for something good to happen?

Read: James 5:7-12 together as a group. Now read just verse 7.

  • Have you ever planted a garden or some other kind of crop? How did it go for you?

  • Where do you see the connection between patience and hope?

Read: James 5:8

  • How does Jesus’ future return give us hope? What hopes do you have about that day?

Read: James 5:9

  • Is grumbling something you struggle with? What tends to trigger your grumbling or complaining?

Read: James 5:10-12

  • Which prophets are you familiar with? How should their stories encourage our patience?

  • What about Job? What can his story teach us about patience through adversity?

  • How does hope lead to patience?

Prayer: Thank Jesus for his coming return, and ask for your hope in him to be strengthened.

08.15.21 - Small Group Discussion

 

Face the Mirror - James 5:1-6

Hoarding makes no sense when the time is short. 

ICE BREAKER: What do you define wealthy? Are you “rich?” Why or why not?

Read: James 5:1

  • James wrote this letter to first-century Christians. Does this verse apply to you and me? Why or why not?

  • James wrote about future misery that would result from being rich. What are some of the present miseries people face because of their wealth?

  • Why does James use such strong language as “weep and wail?”

Read: James 5:2-3

  • If wealth is so temporary, why do we work so hard to acquire it?

  • What is your definition of hoarding?

  • Why is hoarding such a corrosive and dangerous practice?

Read: James 5:4-6 and Deuteronomy 24:14-15

  • James addresses fairness and wealth inequality in these verses. Why is this issue so important to God?

  • Spend the rest of your time as a group talking about ways you can use the wealth God has given you to collectively help others. Make specific plans to take action in some real, tangible way.

 Prayer: Pray this week’s memory verse, Proverbs 11:4. Ask God to help you prioritize your life the way He wants.

08.08.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 4:13-17 (8.8.21)

Time is an hourglass with the top half hidden.

ICE BREAKER: Talk about a time when you made big plans but then had them all fall apart. What happened?

Read: James 4:13-14

  • Are you a planner, or more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person?

  • What are some plans you have for the future?

  • How long do you expect to live? Put another way: how much time do you think you have to accomplish your plans? What do you base that on?

  • What should be our approach to making plans, then? Should we not plan for the future? What is James proposing here?

Read: James 4:15-16

  • Verse fifteen seems to be about perspective. What do you think James is advocating with his phrase, “if it is the Lord’s will”?

  • What is the connection between verses fifteen and sixteen?

  • On Sunday Frank said, “Hold your plans loose, but hold your God close.” React to that statement.

Read: James 4:17

  • This verse is about sins of omission. What is something good God is calling you to do? Are you resistant to that? Why?

Prayer: Pray this week’s memory verse, James 4:17. Ask God to foster courage in your life so you will do what He asks of you.

08.01.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 4:1-13 (8.1.21)

Selfishness and submission are mutually exclusive. 

ICE BREAKER: What is one thing where you know you are selfish? (For example, the remote control, restaurant choice, etc.)

Read: James 4:1-2

  • How does selfishness destroy relationships?

  • Verse 2 says “so you kill.” We may not commit murder, but what are some of the ways selfishness can cause us to “kill” in a figurative sense?

Read: James 4:2-6

  • How does selfishness impact your faith? Your relationship with God?

  • God equates friendship with “the world” with adultery. What do you think that means? Why does James use such powerful imagery?

  • How do you cultivate humility?

Read: James 4:7-10

  • James details some ways we can resist the devil. What are they, and how do we practice them with persistence?

  • What is the relationship between humility and submission and intentionally purifying one’s self?

Prayer: Pray this week’s memory verse, James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

07.25.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 3:13-18

You can get your knowledge from the world, but you’d better get your wisdom from God. 

ICE BREAKER: What is the most useless bit of knowledge you ever learned? What is the best bit of wisdom you’ve ever learned?

Read: James 3:13-18

  • How can you tell is someone is wise or not?

  • Why do you think James wrote verse 14 in the context of this passage on wisdom? What is the connection between the two?

  • In verses 15, 16 and 17 James compares heavenly wisdom with hellish “wisdom.” Can you think of some other ways the two contrast?

Read: Psalm 119:11-16, and Psalm 119:105

  • On Sunday Frank read this quote from Chuck Swindoll:

  • “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. … No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.”

  • Respond to that statement.

  • What benefit have you seen, personally, from memorizing God’s word?

Prayer: Ask God to give you the motivation and the ability to plant his word deep in your heart.

07.18.21 - Small Group Discussion

Face the Mirror - James 3:1-12

The tongue is incredibly powerful. And, with great power comes great responsibility.

ICE BREAKER: We all can struggle with our speech at times. What is your biggest temptation?

Read: James 3:1-2; Romans 3:12, 23

  • James said that not all should become teachers. With the high bar James sets, why would anyone become a teacher?

Read: James 3:3-4

  • James gave us two examples of control: horses and ships. The implication is that the tongue can be controlled. How do we do that?

Read: James 3:5-8

  • The tongue is dangerous. How have you seen that personally play out in your experience?

  • James wrote that no human being can tame the tongue. That seems kind of dispiriting. What are we to do about that?

Read: James 3:9-12

  • Frank said that the way we take control of our tongue is to decide to exercise control, distill our speech, and devote our hearts to God. How can you put that into practical terms for yourself?

Prayer: Ask God to help you be more aware of your speech and to purify your speech to bring Him honor and glory.

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